The Great Commission requires that we enter into the lives of people. Quality leadership means that you are among those who follow you. Pastors are shepherds that lead by example. These elements of church leadership involve approachability, transparency, and trust.

No pastor begins a ministry with several chips in the pockets. Pastors must earn the respect of the congregation. A healthy relationship between pastor and congregation forms over time and in many different ways. For instance, a string of solid decisions shows the church a pastor has talent and discernment. An archive of theologically sound sermons demonstrates a pastor can communicate God’s word. Years of service reveal to the church fruit of a long-term vision.

One uncomplicated leadership trait that is easy to neglect is simply hanging out with the people. While some pastors shirk their responsibilities by being with others too much, many of us pastors don’t take enough time to be with families and small groups of people. And perhaps more than any other trait, spending time with the body enhances approachability, transparency, and trust. Here’s a short list of the benefits of hanging out.

Leading by example in real time. It’s tough show people the right way if no one ever sees you do it. How does a pastor demonstrate living incarnationally? By being among the people.

Discovering opportunities to mix with people outside the church. One of the easiest things to omit as a pastor is leaving the church bubble. A pastor of any size church can fill years of service with just church members. One of the easiest solutions is to hang out with church members who are willing to introduce you to their unsaved and unchurched friends at a ballgame, dinner, or the park.

Balancing the second greatest commandment. We are called to love others as much as ourselves. If all a pastor does is hole up alone in the study, then the second greatest commandment is out of balance.

Enhancing the ability to make tough decisions. When you know people well, you understand better how to make difficult decisions that will affect them. When people know you well, they are more willing to let you make those decisions.

Giving people the correct perception of who you really are. You’re probably just a normal dude who got called into ministry. People need to see that. I can’t tell you how many times people have told me they had an entirely different perception of who I really am until they hung out with me.

Having fun. Really, it’s ok to say yes to a church member who wants to take you out on the boat, or give you tickets to the game, or make your family dinner. People are a lot of fun, so have a good time with them!

Feel free to add your story about hanging out with a church member or another leadership benefit of taking time to be with people.

While researching for an article I am writing for Church Executive, I came across an interesting piece of data:

In part reflecting continued and diversifying immigration, America’s racial and ethnic minority populations continue to expand. Moreover, the younger age of immigrants and higher birth rates among racial and ethnic minorities contribute to a “bubbling up” of diversity from children to seniors. While the U.S. population is projected to turn “minority white” in 2042, its preschool population will cross this threshold in 2021. Thus, while America’s minority growth is already seen prominently in schools and other arenas involving teens and young adults, it will gradually spread across venues that permeate our entire society.

Diversity is spreading geographically, and it is becoming younger. Therefore, the younger generation, as a more ethnically diverse group, will not know homogeneity in the same way as previous generations. Many of the younger generation are third culture worlders – individually, they represent more than just one culture.

As the younger generation ages, they will not as easily recognize the homogeneous unit principal that was championed in the early years of the church growth movement. Basically, this principal states that people desire to worship and serve in church with other similar people, and the best way to reach people is with others who are similar. Clearly, people with common interests, characteristics, life stages, and languages will still gravitate towards each other. The difference with the youngest generation is that these divides will not be as distinct. And, in many ways, they will see heterogeneity as more normative and more relevant.

The church should not wait until 2021 to begin an attitudinal shift from homogeneity to heterogeneity. Indeed, many congregations have been championing this attitude for some time. Others are beginning to notice the changes to their communities and are taking positive steps forward. Especially with preschoolers and children, however, what are some ways that churches can prepare for these changing demographics?

The latest issue of Outreach has hit the stands. It features some good articles on small churches and bi-vocational pastors. You can subscribe to the print edition here. I write the Surprising Insights column in each issue. Here’s an excerpt from my article on the signs of a struggling local church.

Over 90% of churches are declining or growing less than the community around them. The national trends are not good. Before church leaders surrender to frustration and church members yield to apathy, our composite research shows there are signs along the way that suggest a church is becoming unhealthy. The following list is not exhaustive, but let’s see some key signals that an individual congregation is beginning to struggle.

We don’t emphasize Bible study anymore. When God’s Word is not the driving force of a church, people are bound to travel down the wrong road. Churches that do not elevate the proclamation and study of God’s Word veer off course. A lack of deep biblical teaching is one of the most glaring signs of a struggling church.

We cut our outreach budget. When we consult with churches and examine their budgets, a key health indicator is how much the church allocates to outwardly focused ministries. Struggling churches give less toward their mission each year—less money, less prayer and fewer people.

Our church doesn’t change with the community. Struggling churches are led by leaders with little to no understanding of their immediate context. As a result, their congregations either do not know about changes in the community’s demographics or they refuse to change with them. Every church leader must minister with the following question at the forefront: “What are the biggest needs in my community?

We don’t take risks. Unfortunately, many church leaders have been beat up or burned. As a result, they focus more on not getting in trouble with their congregation than turning the world upside down for Jesus. They lead churches to play it safe rather than taking risks to reach more people.

We don’t have a clear discipleship plan. A struggling church does not have an answer to the new believer or member who asks, “Now what?” These churches may have an abundance of programs and ministries, but they do not have an intentional plan to help believers become more like Christ. The absence of a discipleship plan leaves the back door wide open.

Any others that you would like to add?

Yesterday the Pew Research Center released data from a recent study on aging in America. They compared their findings with results from a 1969 Gallup poll of similar questions. You can read the full report here. After interviewing over 2,900 people they found several differences in the younger and older generation. That’s not a surprise, but their focus on the downside, upside, and perception about growing old was fascinating.

On the downside of growing older: When it comes to potential problems related to old age, the share of younger and middle-aged adults who report expecting to encounter them is much higher than the share of older adults who report actually experiencing them.

On the upside of growing older: As seen in the chart, older adults may not experience “upsides” at quite the prevalence levels that most younger adults expect to enjoy them once they grow old. Of all the good things about getting old, the best by far, according to older adults, is being able to spend more time with family members.

So growing old is not as good or bad as expected. But spending time with family is most important.

On the perceptions of the generation gap: In a 1969 Gallup Poll, 74% of respondents said there was a generation gap, with the phrase defined in the survey question as “a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today.” When the same question was asked a decade later, in 1979, by CBS and The New York Times, just 60% perceived a generation gap.

But in perhaps the single most intriguing finding in this new Pew Research survey, the share that say there is a generation gap has spiked to 79% — despite the fact that there have been few overt generational conflicts in recent times of the sort that roiled the 1960s. It could be that the phrase now means something different, and less confrontational, than it did at the height of the counterculture’s defiant challenges to the establishment 40 years ago. Whatever the current understanding of the term “generation gap,” roughly equal shares of young, middle-aged and older respondents in the new survey agree that such a gap exists. The most common explanation offered by respondents of all ages has to do with differences in morality, values and work ethic. Relatively few cite differences in political outlook or in uses of technology.

When does old age begin? According to this survey, the average response of all the people in the survey was 68, but only 21% of people ages 65-74 say they feel old. So I guess you’re only as old as you feel

What I continue to take from these types of surveys is the importance of cross-generational ministry in the church. Obviously, this report did not address generation gaps in the church. But my research has shown how important it is for people of all ages in the church to be serving together. There may be a generation gap – we’ll never avoid it – but we can bridge the generational divide in church through serving together.

The Barna Group recently interviewed over 8,500 heterosexual adults and 280 homosexual adults. The point of the research was to compare the spirituality of both groups. Barna’s findings included some results that would be expected, but also some surprising insights. You can read the full report here. I’ve listed below some highlights.

In any given week the research discovered that heterosexuals are the more likely of the two groups to attend a church service, attend a Sunday school class, pray to God, or read the Bible. Gay adults are 50% more likely than straight adults to be unchurched (42% versus 28%). Overall, heterosexuals are twice as likely as homosexuals to attend a church service, read the Bible and pray to God during a typical week (31% vs. 15%).

Although most adults affirm the importance of faith in their life, regardless of their sexual orientation, straight adults (72%) were more likely than gay adults (60%) to describe their faith as “very important” in their life. And even though most Americans consider themselves to be Christian, there is a noticeable gap between heterosexuals who self-identify that way (85%) compared to homosexuals (70%). Another gap was then noted among those who say they are Christian: about six out of ten heterosexuals say they are absolutely committed to the Christian faith, compared to about four out of ten among homosexuals.

One of the most basic beliefs has to do with one’s understanding of God. This proved to be one of the biggest differences noted in the study. While seven out of every ten heterosexuals (71%) have an orthodox, biblical perception of God, just 43% of homosexuals do.

George Barna commented on the data:

The data indicate that millions of gay people are interested in faith but not in the local church and do not appear to be focused on the traditional tools and traditions that represent the comfort zone of most churched Christians. Gay adults clearly have a different way of interpreting the Bible on a number of central theological matters, such as perspectives about God. Homosexuals appreciate their faith but they do not prioritize it, and they tend to consider faith to be individual and private rather than communal.

It is interesting to see that most homosexuals, who have some history within the Christian Church, have rejected orthodox biblical teachings and principles – but, in many cases, to nearly the same degree that the heterosexual Christian population has rejected those same teachings and principles. Although there are clearly some substantial differences in the religious beliefs and practices of the straight and gay populations, there may be less of a spiritual gap between straights and gays than many Americans would assume.

As expected, most within this community are just as confused about a true relationship with Christ as any other unchurched group. While the data does not reveal what type of church, a small minority from the gay community is at least attending a local assembly. And many are not totally turned off by faith or talk of spiritual things. Like everyone else, however, they don’t have true spiritual life unless they know Jesus.

So how should the church interact with the gay community? Unfortunately, some within the church community have treated them as enemies. Jesus calls His Kingdom servants to love all people, even a segment of the population many Christians have an inclination to dislike (or hate). Sin (ours or theirs) should never be condoned, but we must love those outside our circle. As Jesus states in Matthew 5:46-47, it’s one thing to love people who are just like you; it’s another thing to love people quite different from you.

I’ve had a few opportunities to reach out to gay individuals. I enjoyed my conversations with them. As with many groups, it’s a tough balance between serving with the love of Christ and also sharing a message of repentance and faith. Barna reports that this community comprises about 3% of the U.S. adult population. It’s small, but significant. Do any of you have success stories in sharing the gospel and serving the gay community? How can Barna’s research help in reaching outward to this community?